OS X, MSN Messenger alternatives

I use MSN messenger to IM my friends becuase they all have MSN rather than AIM, so I can't use iChat, and it's one of the most badly coded pieces of M$ digital crap I have ever experienced, it crashes, it has stupid obvious bugs, basically it's like using Windows. But ironically it seems to be the best option.

None of the other Mac OS X clients seem to support group coversations, you can only talk to one person at a time, which is totally confusing when you're added to a group coversation and it just feels like you're talking to 6 other people seperately becuase you have no idea in what order things are being said.

If you're not familiar with this sort of messaging, basically, you can talk to another person, but then either of you can decide to add more people to the conversation, and anything they say appears in one window in a list, you cant see other people's coversations until they add you to them, and only you can decide when you leave the coversation. As you can probably imagine, this is very confusing if you're using a piece of software where everyone in one of these conversations has a seperate window and you can only tell who said what in what order by comparing the time tags next to their sentences, and you can only say what you want to say to one person at a time. Kind of like being in a room with lots of people talking, but being very deaf and only being able to whisper, so you have to rush from one person to another to listen to, or talk to them.

So what alternatives are there? I've tried Fire and Proteus, neither of which worked, Proteus seemed good at first, and group coversations may be added later apparently, so I would use it once this is fixed, but any other suggestions would be appreciated.

What is the likelihood of iChat supporting MSN in the future? Currently, does it support group coversations like I mentioned earlier with people on AIM?

Mrgmurmgrurm, I downloaded and tried out Fire, have you got it to work with group coversations? Becuase I can't and I'm not sure whether it's my fault, or if the software just doesn't support it, but when someone I'm talking to adds another person to my conversation I get a separate window. Like I said I can only talk to one person at once, just like in Proteus.

What I'm looking for is basically MSN messenger but without the sucky interface, constant crashes and bugs and total incompatibility with everything else on my Mac.

Mrgmurmgrurm, I downloaded and tried out Fire, have you got it to work with group coversations? Becuase I can't and I'm not sure whether it's my fault, or if the software just doesn't support it, but when someone I'm talking to adds another person to my conversation I get a separate window. Like I said I can only talk to one person at once, just like in Proteus.

What I'm looking for is basically MSN messenger but without the sucky interface, constant crashes and bugs and total incompatibility with everything else on my Mac.

Andrew

Though I have no expierence with group chats(I'm not popular enough to have more than one friend online at the same time), it is supported in Fire.

Yeah, if you're using something other than iChat. iChat handles AIM similarly to MSN chats.

As for supporting group chats in MSN, Proteus does support this. In the message window, click the Show Recipients button in the toolbar. If the toolbar is not shown, select Show Toolbar from the View menu. If the Show Recipients button is not shown, select Customize Toolbar from the View menu and drag the button to the toolbar. Note that you must be in an existing message window, not the Contacts window. Have fun.

I've tried, the problem is that Windows XP automatically sets up an MSN account for you, so all my friends, all the people I don't know that well and all their friends, relations and aquaintances all use MSN.

OK, here is THE universal messenger: Proteus. Designed for and ative in OS X, beautiful Aqua, very sophisticated preferences, and a simple dialogue setup. AAAAND that's not all, folks!!! IT IS FREE! (ok, it bugs you to pay the college students $15 to provide food in the dorm, but I do not pity ) The only con, for us ignorant Americans, is that everything is spelled all queer. (e.g. colour instead of color, etc. )

I've tried, the problem is that Windows XP automatically sets up an MSN account for you,

Not exactly, XP will ask you whether to set up a MSN account. You are more than welcome to say no despite their persistent badgering. However, I agree that the lang they use may be misleading though e.g. "Sign on now to MSN for better internet experience, etc!"